Handle structure for powerdriven vehicles



Jan 13, 1953 A. c. HOWARD 2,624,905

HANDLE STRUCTURE FOR POWER-DRIVEN VEHICLES I Filed Feb. 16, 1950 INVENTOR.

ART UR C. HowAm Patented Jan. 13, 1953 Oi -FEE HANDLE STRUCTURE FOR POWER DRIVEN VEHICLES Arthur Clifiord Howard,

signer of one-half to R Upminster, England, as otary Hoes Limited; East Horndon, Essex, England Application February 16, 1950, Serial Nil- 1,44,551) In Great Britain May 2 3, 1949 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a power-driven vehicle, such as a tractor-cultivator, of the kind which has a pair of handle-bars to be grasped by a walking operator, The main object of the invention is to arrange the handle-bars so that they are laterally-adjustable for enabling the operator to walk either centrally behind the vehicle or at either side thereof.

According to the invention, the handle-bars are independently pivoted at their forward ends upon the vehicle chassis for lateral movement, and they are also interconnected both by a spring and by a toggle, the toggle being so arranged and the bars being so shaped near the interconnecting points that either in the straight-behind position of the bars, or in either of the extreme lateral positions thereof, the spring will press both bars against the common pivot of the toggle in such manner as to provide a light lock against lateral movement of the bars.

According to a further feature, each toggle link comprises a pair of parallel links sandwiching the adjacent parts of the handle-bars in all three of their alternative positions.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of power-driven cultivator having handle-bars supported in the manner of the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view, to a larger scale, of the handle-bars, and additionally showing, in chain lines, one of the extreme lateral positions into which they can be adjusted;

Figure 3 is a view in the direction of the arrows 3-3 of Figure 2, and drawn to the same scale; and

Figure 4 is a view, to a still larger scale, in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the cultivator comprises a chassis including a tubular side frame member I I which is fast with a gear casing l2 in which one end of a traction cylinder I3 is journalled, the other end of the traction cylinder being supported from an opposite side frame memher (not shown). The chassis carries an internal combustion power plant, indicated generally at M, which drives a shaft, within the side frame member I I, from which the traction cylinder and an earth-working rotor l5 are driven. The rotor is covered by a shield Hi from which is adjustably supported a depth-control skid I1.

Each side frame member has, fast therewith, an upwardly and rearwardly curving bracket [3 to which is pivoted, atl9 and on a horizontal axis, a plate 29. These plateshaye slots 2!,sarcuate 2 about the pivots l9, through which is passed a rod 22 which interconnects the brackets It.

The rod 22 has, at one endgan integral hexagon head 23 which is prevented from turning by an abutment 24 welded to the outer side of the adjacentbracket 13'. The other endof the rod threadedly receives a clamping nut 25 which has an op rating arm 25 so thatf whe'n the nut 25is tightened the adjacentface's of the plates 2i) are clamped against end flanges 34 of a tube 21 through which the rod 22 passes.

The handle-bars 28 are cranked to be somewhat of Z-form in plan, as shown by Figure 2. Each has a hingejaw 36 at its forward end by which it is pivoted tothe coacting plate 20, as by a pivot bolt 30, for movement about a vertical axis. The handle-bars 28 are shown as provided with hand grips 29 on the rear ends of the intermediate portions 35a, 36a. At the inner ends of the latter the handle-bars are interconnected by a toggle, and between the toggle and their pivoted ends they are interconnected by a tension spring 3!.

The toggle is preferably a double one-i. e., each link comprises upper and lower links 30a, 3%, supported from the opp site ends of a bolt 32 passed through the associated handle-bar 28. The central pivot 33 of the toggle, connected to all four links, passes between the handle-bars 28, and has means (such as a distance slecve-not shown) for maintaining the correct spacing of the adjacent ends of the links.

When the handle-bars are centralised with respect to the longitudinal axis of the machine (1. e., in the position shown in full lines in Figure 2) the toggle links are substantially closed. In this position their central pivot, whether directed rearwardly as shown or forwardly, is engaged on opposite sides by'the adjacent parts of the handle-bars 28. When it is desired to adjust the handle-bars to be to one side of the longitudinal axis of the'machine, the handle-bar which is nearer that side (e. g., the handle-bar 35a) is moved in the appropriate direction (i. e., upwards in Figure-2) and draws the other handlebar towards it, due to the straightening of the toggle links and the action of'the spring, into the chain lineposition shown. In this adjusted position the central pivot of the toggle links is again contacted, o opposite sides, by the membars 28. Any attempt to move' the handle-bar tta towards the side from which it is the more remote is resisted owing to the locking action of the toggle, and the handle-bars, when equally grasped, are found to provide a rigid control of the cultivator.

To return the handle-bar 35a to its central position, it is necessary to pull laterally on the handle-bar 35b.

By slackening the clamping nut 25, both handle-bars can be adjusted for height and afterwards locked at the desired setting by re-tightening the clamping nut.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A handle structure for power-driven vehicles adapted to be guided by means of handle-bars to be grasped by a walking operator, said handle structure including two rearwardly directed coplanar bars, laterally spaced respective pivotal connections between the forward ends of said bars and the vehicle, the axes of said pivotal connections being parallel to each other and upwardly directed for enabling lateral swinging movement of said bars in their common plane, said bars having portions extending towards one another, a spring interconnecting said bars and biassing them towards each other about said pivotal connections, a pair of links pivoted together by a common pivot at their one ends and respectively pivoted at their other ends to said bars adjacent said extending portions whereby to form a toggle interconnecting said bars, said link pivots being parallel to said pivotal connections and said common pivot extendin between said bars at rightangles to said plane, said toggle arranged to be in folded condition and with the common pivot of the toggle engaged at opposite sides by said extending ortions when said bars are in their straight-behind position, and said toggle also arranged to be in straightened condition, again with its common pivot engaged at opposite sides by said extending portions when said bars are in either of their extreme lateral l positions, which latter positions are determined by the straightening of the toggle, the interaction of the spring, toggle and bars biassing said bars against lateral movement from any of their three alternative positions.

2. The handle structure of claim 1, characterised in that each link of said toggle comprises a pair of parallel links sandwiching the adjacent parts of said bars in any of their three alternative positions.

3. A handle structure for power-driven vehicles adapted to be guided by means of handle-bars to be grasped by a walkin operator, said handle structure including two rearwardly directed coplanar bars, laterally spaced respective pivotal connections between the forward ends of said bars and the vehicle, the axes of said pivotal connections being parallel to each other and upwardly directed for enabling lateral swinging movement of said bars in their common plane, said bars having portions between their ends extending towards one another, a spring interconnecting said bars and biassing them about said pivotal connections for said portions to be in contact with one another when said bars are in the straight-behind position, a pair of links pivoted together by a common pivot at their one ends and respectively pivoted at their other ends to said bars adjacent said extending portions whereby to form a toggle interconnectin said bars, said link pivots being parallel to said pivotal connections and said common pivot extending between said bars at rightangles to said plane, said toggle arranged to be in folded condition and with opposite sides of its said common pivot engaged by said extending portions adjacent the position in which the latter contact each other in the straight-behind position of said bars, and said toggle also arranged to be in straightened condition, again with its common pivot engaged at opposite sides by said extending portions, when said bars are in either of their extreme lateral positions, which latter positions are determined by the straightening of the toggle, the interaction of the spring, toggle and bars biassing said bars against lateral movement from any of their three alternative positions.

4. The handle structure of claim 3, characterised in that each link of said toggle comprises a pair of parallel links sandwichin the adjacent parts of said bars in any of their three alternative positions.

5. A handle structure for power-driven vehicles adapted to be guided by means of handle-bars to be grasped by a walking operator, said handle structure including two rearwardly directed coplanar bars, laterally spaced respective pivotal connections between the forward ends of the said bars and the vehicle, the axes of said pivotal connections being parallel to each other and upwardly directed for enabling lateral swinging movement of said bars in their common plane, said bars being cranked between their ends to contact one another in the straight-behind position of said bars, a spring interconnecting said bars and biassing them towards each other about said pivotal connections, a pair of links pivoted together by a common pivot at their one ends and pivoted at their other ends to said bars where they are cranked, whereby to form a toggle interconnecting said bars, said link pivots being parallel to said pivotal connections and said common pivot extending between said bars at rightangles to said plane, said toggle arranged to be in folded condition, with the common pivot of the toggle engaged at opposite sides by said bars, when said bars are in their straight-behind position, and said toggle also arranged to be in straightened condition, again with its common pivot engaged at opposite sides by said bars, when said bars are in either of their extreme lateral positions, which latter positions are determined by the straightening of the toggle, the interaction of the spring, toggle and bars biassing said bars against lateral movement from any of their three alternative positions.

6. The handle structure of claim 5, characterised in that each link of said toggle comprises a pair of parallel link sandwichin the adjacent parts of said bars in any of their three alternative positions.

'7. A handle structure for power-driven vehicles adapted to be guided by means of handle-bars to be grasped by a walking operator, said handle structure including two rearwardly directed coplanar bars, laterally spaced respective pivotal connections between the forward ends of the said bars and the vehicle, the axes of said pivotal connections being parallel to each other and upwardly directed for enabling lateral swinging movement of said bars in a common plane, said bars having portions cranked towards one another between their ends, a tension spring interconnecting said bars and biassin them about said pivotal connections for said cranked portions to engage when said bars are in the straightbehind position, a pair of links pivoted together by a common pivot at their one ends and pivoted at their other ends to said cranked portions, said l nk pivots being parallel to said pivotal connections and said common pivot extending between said bars at rightangles to said plane, said links being inclined to one another when said bars are in the straight-behind position with opposite sides of the common pivot of said links resting against the cranked portions, said links also serving to limit the extent of the lateral movement of the bars in either direction when the ap propriate one of the bars is pulled in that direction by becoming aligned with one another and with the common pivot of said links engaged on opposite sides by said bars, the interaction of the spring, toggle and bars biassing said bars against lateral movement from any of their three alternative positions.

ARTHUR CLIFFORD HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

